Story of the Real Roxanne Shanté Comes to Life via Netflix March 23rd 2018

For those of us who are old enough to miss the ‘good ole days’ of Hip Hop then Roxanne Roxanne could be the nostalgic fix we need.

After debuting successfully at last year’s Sundance festival Roxanne Roxanne has landed. The series based on female rapper MC Lolita “Roxanne Shanté” Gooden of the Juice Crew shows the highs and lows of what it was like navigating the male-dominated space of Hip Hop during the ’80s as a young black woman.

The synopsis is as follows – “In the early 1980s, the most feared battle MC in Queens, New York, was a fierce teenage girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders.”

Infamously Roxanne Shanté, at the mere age of 14 became embroiled in the fall out between the Juice Crew and Boogie Down Productions headed by the rap legend KRS-One. The battle was called the “Roxanne Wars,” and was at time reminiscent of the East vs. West coast beef of the nineties (maybe a little less violent) but the impact on the fans and artists was similar. After two albums and a few hit singles, Roxanne retired in the 90s. Making a few appearances here and there later in the decade.

The film stars Oscar winner, Mahershala Ali and Nia Long. Roxanne will be played by a new actress on the block, Chante Adams. Adams won the Special Jury award for Breakthrough Performance at Sundance, so she’ll definitely be one to watch.

Roxanne Roxanne’s is brought to us by Forest Whitaker’s Significant Productions and Pharrell Williams’s i am OTHER. It is written and directed by Michael Larnell (Cronies, 2015). Wu-Tang’s RZA oversaw the soundtrack.